A 5-Year-Old Boy Was Crushed to Death By a Rotating Restaurant: Police

A 5-year-old boy died Friday after being crushed to death by a revolving restaurant in Atlanta.

The incident occurred at the Sun Dial, a 73-story restaurant at the top of Westin Peachtree Plaza Hotel that rotates full circle, offering 360-degree views of the city, police said, USA Today reports.

The child and his family were visiting from Charlotte and had gone to the restaurant for lunch, Atlanta Police Department spokesman Warren Pickard said, according to USA Today. The boy wandered 4 to 5 feet away from his parents’ table when he became entrapped between a rotating portion of the floor and a wall, a space of about 4 to 5 inches, Pickard said.

“We simply think he lost sight of his parents and panicked and found himself in that situation,” Pickard said, according to USA Today. “A small child doesn’t know what to do in those moments, and it crushed his little small body.”

Staff and dining guests immediately tried to give the child first aid, Pickard said. “They were moving furniture, they were pulling chairs — chairs that were bolted to the floor — they were pulling them up to try to get the child out,” he explained.

The hotel manager for the Westin Peachtree Plaza, George Reed, said in a statement that the hotel will continue working with authorities and assist in them in investigation, according to USA Today.

“Words cannot express the depths of our sorrow. Our thoughts remain with the family,” he said.